this sunday, i was in elm at the glarner alpchäs- und schabziger märt, a kind of folk festival where you can have fun, try and buy cheese, eat traditional food, listen to bands playing folk music, and as a highlight, watching an almabtrieb. during the latter event, the cows from the alms are driven back into the valley, where they are decorated and equipped with nice cowbells, and walked along the main street so the tourists can watch and take pictures ;-) below are some impressions from that day with wonderful weather, opposing the foggy, cool weather i left behind when leaving the zürich area…

in the last photo, you can see the martinsloch. we didn’t knew the sun was shining through that morning (around 9:33 o’clock), otherwise we probably would have been there earlier…

here’s my project 52 shot for the thirtyth week. the topic was

the big blue.

when i read this topic, i had to think of the morteratsch glacier, especially the dark blue grotto which is visible on some of the photos i took there. but when this topic was announced, my trip to the morteratsch glacier was already three days ago, and we are not supposed to take archive photos. besides that, i had no perfect photo from that grotto. so i waited, until i visited the next glacier: the rhône glacier. as opposed to this view of the glacier, the photo for this topic had to be taken inside the glacier, where it is deep blue. but this is not a problem at the rhône glacier, as every year, they dig a grotto into the glacier which you can enter. they also installed lights, usually hidden behind ice, which amplify the bluish tones. this was the perfect place to take a photo for this topic, in my opinion. and here it is! please click the photo to get a larger version:

technical details: 1/100s, f/2.8, 16mm fisheye, iso 400.

here’s my project 52 shot for the twentyeighth week. the topic was

postkartenmotiv.

as a motive for this topic, i chose the rhône glacier. please click the photo to get a larger version:

technical details: 1/2500s, f/8, 18mm, iso 400.

here’s my project 52 shot for the twentythird week. the topic was

friedliche idylle.

i took this photo of a peaceful idyll at the furka pass in central switzerland. silence, fresh air, a wonderful view, a few fluffy clouds here and there – just so beautiful, so perfect. please click the photo to get a larger version:

technical details: 1/1000s, f/8, 18mm, iso 200.

here’s my project 52 shot for the twentysecond week. the topic was

kopfkino.

when visiting the morteratsch glacier, i saw a polar bear. well. i guess i was the only one, but in my mind, i had the clear image of a polar bear tromping through the the glacier’s fractures, ignoring its human viewers. not as cute and fluffy as knut, but in my eyes, just as elegant, polar bearish. (and much less dangerous.) for me, this really fits well to the topic mental cinema, since unfortunately, this polar bear only existed in mine… please click the photo to get a larger version:

technical details: 1/800s, f/5.6, 400mm, iso 200.

today i flew back to zürich, via frankfurt. on the second leg, i was sitting at a window, and after some time, a beautiful cloudy sunset scenery presented itself to me, which i have to share with you:

after diving through the clouds, it wasn’t that beautiful anymore, instead it was grey, cool and looking rainy… but well, vacation’s over, isn’t it?

here’s my project 52 shot for the eighteenth week. the topic was

das blühende leben.

i took this photo of a bumble-bee slurping nectar out of a blossom in the botanical garden in zürich. please click the photo to get a larger version:

technical details: 1/500s, f/8, 105mm, iso 200.

today, i did an excursion to the furka pass and the rhône glacier. i started at 05:45 in zürich, took the train to göschenen, and continued by postauto to the hotel belvédère.

from there, one can visit the ice grotto, a grotto hewn into the glacier. this was the first time i was inside a glacier, though not the first time being inside a artifical ice cave. there is a long twisted corridor, ending in a grotto. the walls often have lights inside, yielding spectacular effects. check out some impressions:

after that, i did a hike to the furka passhöhe. supposed to be a nice, easy hike, at least when you start at at the passhöhe. starting from hotel belvédère, the way is very steep in the beginning (instead of going steeply down at the end). here’s what my gps recorded for me.

the hike started at 2291 meters above sea level, climbed up to 2450 meters above sea level in around 700 meters, and peaked at 2486 meters above sea level near the end, and ended at 2427 meters above sea level after 2.97 kilometers. according to qlandkartegt, i climbed up 358 meters and walked down 222 meters during the whole trip. not bad for my training level… almost took me 2 1/2 hours. but it was really beautiful up there!

in case you want to do the trip in the same direction: the trail starts, seen from the glacier, behind the hotel. the sign is pretty easy to miss, and the trailhead is also easy to miss…

currently, it sounds like i’m in a war zone. explosions outside, here and there, at random intervals. it already started to get more intensive a few days ago; though some explosions can be heard almost every few days.
but zürich is no war zone, of course. this is just the swiss national day.
i hope it’s over when i want to go to bed…
(it would be so much nicer if it would be a real firework and not just explosions…)

today i did a short excursion to the botanical garden in zürich. the sun was shining and i got some nice pictures. there also was a cat to pet, though after some time it walked away… anyway, it was a nice trip, and here are some of the results. the cat never was in the right position to take a nice photo, so unfortunately there is no photo of the cat…